X-Keepers: Reign of Light
by Shadow Shoveler Productions
Summary: After a mysterious team of hunters begin targeting Keyblade wielders, The X-Keepers are forced to go on the run to protect their friends and keep the worlds safe from this new looming threat. Sequel to the wildly popular FanFic based on the YouTube group of the same name.
1. Heroes

**Hello everyone, and welcome to the long awaited sequel to the X-Keepers FanFiction!**

 **I bet you all weren't expecting this, huh? Believe it or not, neither did I. This story has gone through many different revisions and alterations to the point where I felt that the project would inevitably be shelved. Nobody was necessarily asking for it, and a lot of my creative juices had dried up at the time when writing. So, I quietly cancelled the story for the time being...**

 **...BUT, with the hype for KH3 being at an all-time high this year, and this weekend being the X-Keepers' 4 year anniversary, I suddenly had an urge to write this again. And if the demand is still high enough, I just might keep going, cause theres a lot of cool places I could take this story ;)**

 **Anyway, with all of that backstory taken care of, let's waste no time and diving into our new tale. Fair warning that if you haven't read the original X-Keepers FanFic, stop here and go read it, as there with be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. You've been warned.**

 **That all being said, let's get started. Sit back and enjoy the next chapter in the X-Keepers saga...**

 **Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney**

* * *

 _"The Keyblade War. I'm sure you all know the story by now. Seven guardians of light, and thirteen seekers of darkness. The day the universe became united against a common threat. I still remember to this day seeing Sora clash with Xehanort. And when all hope was lost, that spiky haired kid managed to save each and every one of us. Granted, it was at the cost of his own life, but what mattered most was that he did everything in his power to bring peace back to the universe and destroy Xehanort once and for all. And in the end, he did. Or at least, that's what we thought…"_

SLAM! Lea dropped the closed book onto his desk, alerting the numerous students who had been dozing off. Lea, smirking at his inattentive classroom, simply carried on with his lecture.

"As I was saying," he continued, "Turns out Xehanort wasn't actually taken care of. In actuality, his heart was split into 7 pieces; Isn't that familiar. These pieces, or remnants, tried to regroup and reform the old goat and finish what he started. Well, 6 of them did. The seventh was a mystery to them until the last second, and when they tried their hand at finally coming together, their seventh remnant decided he didn't want to be a part of that. Instead, he found different allies. Friends from the light. And together, they finally sent Xehanort packing." Lea then smiled as he looked at the awestruck faces of some of his students, "but, I'm sure you all know their story…"

As Lea came to a close on his lecture, the classroom doors flew open, as another student rushed into the room.

"Master!" He called out, catching Lea's attention.

"How many times do I have to tell you, JJ, you don't have to call me that." Lea pestered, "Besides, I'm kind of in the middle of a class here-"

"Lea," The student interrupted with a smile, "It's them. They're back."

Those words brought a delightful grin to Lea's face. "Class dismissed." Lea stated, as he joined his new apprentice in leaving the classroom.

* * *

 **~Shadow Shoveler Productions Presents~**

The bright skies of the Land of Departure shined brightly through the windows of the castle hallways as Lea hurried toward the courtyard, with a few of his students following closely behind him. It had been some time since he felt such a surge of excitement, yet this was something that always brought a small glimmer of joy to his face. And apparently, it also did to the numerous Keyblade wielders in training following closely behind him.

As he rounded the hallways, Lea finally made his way outside and into the castle courtyard, where even more students were gathered to see what was going on. And at the centre of it all, was Master Aqua and her apprentice, Umbrella Dispatch, looking at what was causing all of the commotion.

 **~In association with SquareEnix and Disney~**

Quickly, Lea made his way to the front of the crowd and approached his fellow Keyblade master. "You guys saw them too I'm guessing?" He asked.

"That we did." Aqua replied with a smile.

"How could you tell it was them?" Lea asked, to which Dispatch snickered.

"Take a wild guess." She answered.

Lea, curious, listened intently to the approaching sounds. Sure enough, what he heard, did nothing less but make him laugh.

"Land of Departure coming in hot!" said a loud, eccentric voice.

"Gee, do you think they heard you?" replied another voice, this one more sarcastic than the last.

"Why? Should I be louder? Would that help?" The first voice replied, mimicking the second voice's whiny tone.

"Guys, c'mon, can we stick the landing without the constant bickering for once?" a third, more calm and collected voice interrupted the two.

"Ah yes, the part where we almost fall on our faces. Always a treat!" a fourth accented voice added.

Back on the ground, the Keyblade masters exchanged amused looks amongst hearing the banter above them. "Yup," Lea stated, "It's them alright."

Finally, the four figures dismissed what looked like Keyblade gliders as they started to plummet to the castle grounds below. After several twists and turns of acrobatics to slow down their decent, the four figures finally landed across from the crowd of awestruck students, as well the smiling faces of their masters.

As the dust settled, the large group of students looked on at the sight of the four heroic Keyblade wielders now standing before them, as faint whispers in the crowd uttered their name in awe…

"The X-Keepers…"

 **~X-KEEPERS: Reign of Light~**

CHAPTER 1: Heroes

Getting to his feet, he looked on at the massive castle grounds in front of them, basking in the joy of being back where their adventures began. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the fresh air with a sigh. For SoraAlam, there was nothing more satisfying than being where he considered home. Behind him, his friends also gathered themselves from the ground.

"Whew, I don't think I'll ever get tired of that!" HMK said, stretching out his arms.

"After the amount of elixirs you took? Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." Skyward Wing responded, straightening his white winged cap and his new black hoodie overtop of his white t-shirt.

"Welcome back, boys!" The four looked to see Aqua, as well as the numerous other young Keyblade wielders, watching on as the team gathered themselves from their landing.

"Master Aqua." SoraAlam greeted, bowing to his former master, to which Aqua giggled at.

"You know you don't have to keep calling me that, SoraAlam." Aqua said, as SoraAlam sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, remembering that he too is a master now.

"Heh, right…Aqua." He said with a smile.

"What brings you all back here?" Aqua asked.

"We thought we'd come by and see how everyone was." Cynical answered, fixing his black and grey jacket over his green shirt, "The worlds have been pretty quiet recently so we haven't had a lot to do."

"In other words…we were bored." SoraAlam admitted.

"And the most fun thing you could think of was coming back to school." Lea said, sarcastically, "You can't make this stuff up."

Aqua rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her old apprentice. "Well, we're glad you decided to come visit." She replied.

"Looks like you guys weren't the only ones." Sky responded, as the group looked at all of the awestruck faces of Aqua and Lea's students.

Lea chuckled a bit before waving overtop the students. "Alright you rascals, you got to see them. Let the celebrities have some breathing room."

The students groaned, as the redheaded pyro started to herd the group of young Keyblade wielders away from the scene. As the crowd hurried along, amongst the team of heroes, Umbrella Dispatch approached HMK with a loving embrace. "It's good to see you guys again." Dispatch said with a smile.

"Same." HMK happily responded, "You know I couldn't stay away from you long, even if I tried."

Dispatch laughed, as Sky passed by the couple with a sly remark, "And that's a fact." HMK shot Sky a look, as the nomad Keyblade master shrugged his shoulders and continued on his way.

SoraAlam, rolling his eyes at the exchange, turned back to Aqua. "So, what is new going on around here?" He asked.

"Well, the Millions Dream Festival is about to start tonight, and Mickey invited us all to Disney Town to celebrate." Aqua explained, as the young boys looked at each other with smiles.

"Yeah, Mickey was talking about it the last time I saw him." Sky explained, "Sounds like it could be fun."

"I'm sure any chance you get to party, you'll take." Cynical replied.

"And why would I not?" Sky said with a laugh, as SoraAlam turned back to Aqua.

"We'd love to come." SoraAlam said, "I think we could all use a fun time."

"Why don't we all head inside? We'll help you guys get settled in." Aqua suggested, to which everyone agreed. Thus everyone headed for the castle doors.

As the group went forward through the castle, Lea threw his arm around HMK and lead him away from the group, intending for a private conversation.

"You seem to be in a pretty good mood." Lea said.

"Well, things have been going pretty good out in the worlds." HMK replied.

"I'm sure they are," Lea stated, "After what you guys went through, I'm sure that's certainly a change of pace."

"Definitely. Speaking of change of pace, how's JJ making out?" HMK asked.

"The 'Gamer with Gains'?" Lea said with a smile, "He's certainly got the makings of warrior I can say that."

"I don't doubt that," HMK said, "That's why I suggested him to you for as a new apprentice."

"Indeed." Lea nodded, "Which reminds me. When were you thinking of bringing on a protégé?"

HMK laughed, shaking his head, "Lea, I already told you…"

"I know, but I was just thinking," Lea tried to explain, "seeing how far you've come as a Keyblade wielder, and the fact that I named you a master."

"Which I declined," HMK reiterated.

"It's still true though," Lea continued, "I thought you'd be interested in shedding that knowledge and skill onto someone else."

HMK kept shaking his head, "Lea, you should know more than anyone that I'm not the teacher type. Besides, I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of responsibility yet."

HMK kept walking down the hallway as Lea stopped at the doorway, watching his former apprentice keep walking. "Trust me, buddy. You've got more teaching skill than you think." He called after the hectic one, who turned around to face his old master while still walking.

"I'll believe it when it actually happens." HMK playfully said back before turning back around and continuing down the hallway.

Lea smirked as he watched his former apprentice continue down the hall. He knew HMK would turn down his offer, just like he had the last few times he brought the idea up to him. But he knew deep down the HMK would come around. He was too outgoing to withhold his skills and knowledge from those who wanted to learn.

Once the young Keybalde wielder was out of his sight, Lea turned around and headed back down the opposite side of the hallway, deciding to prepare for the festivities later that night…

* * *

From the bright lights, to the upbeat music, to the joyful faces of everyone in the square, Disney Town looked more lively each and every time they held the Million Dreams Festival. And this year was no exception, given all that had transpired in the last few years. If anything, it was a celebration of peace and merriment, and the great signs of a wonderful future on the horizon. Or at least, that's what Cynical saw as he walked through the square.

Looking around the town, he watched the happy faces of young and old wander through the multi-coloured streets of the royal town, looking up above to see even Disney Castle lit mightily strong. He smiled at the majesty of the world, despite it's cartoonish aesthetic.

As Cynical continued down the street, he didn't notice Skyward Wing creeping up behind him, before the young Keyblade master leapt up behind the heuristic one, throwing his arm around the young boy.

"Alright, phase one of operation 'shell-breaker' is a go!" Sky enthusiastically said, "The first step of coming out of a comfort zone is to always have a proper wing man. And because it just happens to be in my name, it's only fitting that I be the one to assist you in your endeavors."

"And why are you deciding to do this?" Cynical asked.

"What? Can't a friend help another friend open up to the wide world of opportunity?" Sky questioned back, to which Cynical shook his head.

"What makes you think I need that?" Cynical kept asking.

"Aw, come on, Cynical, buddy, I've seen how you act." Sky reiterated, "It's not like you're cut off from the world, but I don't see you lining up first to get involved."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Cynical quipped, "Besides, who's to say I don't get myself involved? I have my fair share of outstanding moments."

"I'm not talking about when we're on missions," Sky laughed, "I'm talking about in a more…social sense."

Cynical snickered at Sky's remark, "Sky, did it ever occur to you, that maybe I like being better off in the position I'm in?"

"Not sure why you would be." Sky shrugged, as Cynical rolled his eyes.

"What I'm saying is, if I want to be-" Before Cynical could finish his statement, he looked back in front of him to notice a stationary wagon in his way, to which he bumped into. Trying to catch himself, Cynical watched the numerous pots of flowers almost fall over. Quickly, he dove to the ground to try and catch the pots before they hit the pavement. Successfully, he managed to catch the two pots, sighing in relief.

"Smooth." Sky said, as Cynical collected himself off the ground.

Placing the pots back on the wagon, Cynical looked up to see a young flower girl, about the same age as him, who had come back to the side of her wagon to see Cynical, she too looking at him. Cynical was at a loss for words when he saw her beauty, not sure how to react or what to say.

Finally, clearing his throat, Cynical managed to speak. "I, uh, um, sorry, about that."

"No, no, it's fine," the flower girl said, "I should have moved the wagon a little more off the road."

"Well, I don't know about that." Cynical replied, "When it's closer, more people will be able to come in contact to it. In some cases, quite literally."

The flower girl giggled at the reply, which made Cynical himself laugh a bit.

"I'm Kayla, by the way." The flower girl introduced herself.

"Jared." The heuristic one replied, "My friends call me Cynical."

"What brings you to Disney Town?" Kayla continued to ask.

"My friend is actually a really good friend of the King. He invited us." Cynical explained, which caught Kayla's intrigue.

"Oooh, you must be very important." She said.

"Me? Nah, just another wielder of the Keyblade going about his day." Cynical scoffed, Kayla smiling at his title.

"A Keyblade?" She cooed, "Now that does sound important."

"I mean, if you say so." Cynical laughed, starting to bashfully stumble over his words.

"Actually speaking of going about our days, I have to go set up more of these lovelies around the festival." Kayla said, grabbing the different pots of flowers.

"I see," Cynical said, stepping away from the wagon. "Hopefully I'll see you around."

"Yeah, definitely." Kayla nodded, as she continued to grab her pots and headed back into the square. "Well, I'll, uh, see you around," She said, turning back around with a small blush.

As she walked, Cynical watched her leave, smiling, before turning back to Sky, who simply wore a dumbfounded look on his face. "What?" Cynical asked.

Sky, however, simply put his hands together and pointed at the heuristic one, dryly stating, "Boy."

Meanwhile on the other side of the square, HMK traveled down the street with Umbrella Dispatch by his side. Hand in hand, the couple took in the sights of the world and its festive appearance. As they continued to walk, Dispatch looked at HMK, smiling at the certain look on his face.

"Lea talked to you about the whole apprentice thing, huh?" She asked, to which the hectic one rolled his eyes.

"News sure does like to travel fast, doesn't it?" HMK sarcastically remarked.

"You know, for all the odd things that go on in Lea's mind, this is one that I kind of have to agree with him on." Dispatch said.

"You too?" HMK groaned.

"I mean, babe, think about it." Dispatch explained, "after all the trouble you had to go through last year, all that you managed to learn and achieve, I don't know why you wouldn't want to pass that knowledge onto others. That and you're pretty good with the younger ones"

HMK laughed, "Ok, first of all, no I'm not. Two, just because I managed to help defeat Xehanort does not automatically make me prime to teach others. And three, like I told Lea, I just don't think I'm ready."

Dispatch, noticing her boyfriend's somber tone, stopped in front of him, looking up at him sincerely. "No one ever thinks they're ready until they actually try it." She said with a smile.

"Did Aqua tell you that?" HMK asked.

"Even if she didn't, it still true. Whether you like it or not, Lea made you master for a reason."

HMK looked back at her, somewhat defeated, "But we both know why I don't deserve it."

Dispatch looked at the saddening expression on HMK's face, knowing the torment that was going on in his head, and the pain that he was referring to. "What happened wasn't your fault." She replied, placing a hand on HMK's cheek, as he looked up at her uncertainty in his eyes.

"Yo! Lovebirds!" The moment passed quickly, as the two were interrupted by Sky and Cynical approaching the two. "Mickey's going to start the opening ceremonies soon. You coming?"

HMK, regaining his composure, simply chuckled, "Yeah, wouldn't miss it."

Cynical began looking around the around. "Do you guys know where SoraAlam is? I know he was excited for that."

"Wasn't he with you?" Dispatch asked.

"No, we thought he came in with you guys." Sky answered.

The group were now confused. HMK thought to himself where the stormless one would have gone, before he looked over to Cynical. The two locked eyes, as they both same to the same conclusion.

"You think…?" HMK asked, to which Cynical sadly nodded.

"Yeah…"

* * *

The sounds of the ocean waves danced in his head as he listened to the waves crash gently onto the shore. Standing at the far side of the island, near a large treehouse, he saw the sunset in the distance, as he kept his gaze on the other side of the island.

There, on the smaller island, sitting on the bent papou tree…was her.

The last time SoraAlam visited this place, he had no idea who she was, or what kind of impact she had on him. But ever since the day they met, memories had been pouring into his mind one by one. Memories that were not his.

The strongest memories, without question, were of her. And knowing what he didn't know then, it all made him feel…something. He didn't know what it was, but this girl was important to him. Or at least, who he used to be.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of a corridor of light summoning that SoraAlam's trance had been cut. But he still didn't turn around. Instead, he listened as HMK exited the corridor, which closed behind him.

"Nice sunset." HMK commented, "though I'm sure that's not what you come here for."

"I worried everyone, didn't I?" SoraAlam asked, still not averting his gaze.

"Nah, Cynical and I figured you'd be here." HMK responded, leaning on the railing, "Told him I'd drag you back this time."

SoraAlam laughed a bit. "I'm sure."

The two continued to look out at the nice view, as HMK also noticed the redheaded girl sitting on the island.

"I'm surprised you haven't talked to her yet." HMK mentioned.

"Oh yeah, that would fun. 'Hey, Kairi, I'm the reincarnation of your dead boyfriend. You wanna go get sea-salt ice-cream sometime?'" SoraAlam scoffed, stepping away from the railing.

"Hey, how do you think I asked Umbrella out?" HMK responded with a smirk.

SoraAlam sighed, "I'm serious, this is different. It's almost like…I can feel him. His heart, still active inside me. Calling out to her."

HMK raised an eyebrow. "Sora? Yeah, I guess that does make sense."

"You say that so casually! Like it's normal." SoraAlam held his hands to his head, clearly frustrated.

"Trust me, dude. I know this isn't normal. At all." HMK reassured him, "Besides, you're not the only one having to deal with a past life haunting you."

SoraAlam was about to respond, but stopped before he even spoke, knowing what HMK was referring to. "Oh, right." He simply responded, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." HMK answered, "At least one person knows what I'm going through."

SoraAlam, seeing the conflict in his friend, rejoins him by the railing, looking out at the beating red sun. "I guess we both have legacies holding us back."

HMK swayed his head, thinking about it, "Sort of." He responded, "We're both different cases though. My former life tried to send the worlds into darkness, and yours managed to bring out their inner light. Polar opposites of the spectrum."

SoraAlam sulked at this thought. "How are we supposed to live up to that?" He questioned, "How am…I supposed to live up to that?"

HMK also thought about it, a tad distraught. The more he thought about it, he remembered how much SoraAlam has it worse than him. He was following in the footsteps of the saviour of the worlds. Anyone in their right mind would see that to be a massive undertaking.

Thinking carefully, HMK came to something of a conclusion. "well…I guess we just have to keep telling ourselves that…we're not them." He said.

SoraAlam looked at HMK, thinking on his words. HMK smiled, deciding to lighten the mood. "C'mon, the opening ceremonies are about to start." He said, throwing an arm around SoraAlam and leading him back toward where a corridor of light was waiting for them. "Besides, I hear their handing out free ice cream, and I am NOT missing that!" HMK added, to which SoraAlam just couldn't help but laugh at.

* * *

"Good evening, one and all!" King Mickey Mouse declared, standing upon the grand stage of the Disney Town square. "I'm so happy you all could make it here tonight. It's been so long since we could all come together and celebrate times like these." Mickey looked out over the podium to see his friends and fellow Keyblade masters off in the distance, smiling from within the crowd.

There, Sky and Cynical looked to see HMK approaching with SoraAlam in tow. "Hey, you made it." Sky said happily.

"Was there any doubt?" HMK said with a sly smirk, as everyone turned their attention back to the stage.

Cynical, however, noticed the slight tenseness SoraAlam was still exhibiting. "Hey," he quietly asked his friend, "you ok?"

SoraAlam noticed the worry in Cynical's tone. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He stammered, trying to brush it off, "just…needed more time is all."

"That's ok," Cynical responded, "it's just…you know you can talk to us. About anything."

SoraAlam looked to Cynical with a half-hopeful smile. "I know."

"Shhh, yo, guys, it's almost fireworks time!" Sky hushed everyone, as they all turned their attention back to Mickey's speech.

"We've all been through so much. Through the darkness and the light." Mickey continued, a swell of championing happiness showering over the crowd. "But now is the time to let our worries fall to the side, and let this new era of peace begin." The crowd started to cheer upon hearing those words. Mickey, beaming with his signature grin, led into his final word, "so with that said, I hear-by decree the Million Dreams Festival be-"

 _KA-BOOM!_ Before Mickey can finish, a massive explosion erupted overtop of the stage, causing patrons to scream and run from the stage. Mickey dashed back as his Magic Brooms appeared to his side to cover him.

Within the crowd, the Keyblade wielding heroes looked on in shock in horror. "Sky, those wouldn't happen to be the fireworks you mentioned right?" HMK sarcastically asked.

Looking upward, the group watched as several massive Gummi ships uncloaked within the sky, as the enormous armada floated closer toward the square.

"I think fireworks are gonna be the last thing we get tonight." Sky remarked, as he and his fellow teammates summoned their Keyblades, ready for whatever fight was coming their way.

* * *

 **Wasting no time getting to the good stuff, aren't we?**

 **Hopefully this chapter was a nice refresher on what happened in the last story and prepares you for what lies ahead. Like I said, I don't know how popular this will get, but if you all could leave some reviews, share it around, and let me know you want more, I'll be happy to oblige. Consider this a pilot of sorts :)**

 **With that said, that concludes today's chapter. Let me know what you thought, and as always, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **~SSP~**


	2. Hunters

**Hello, everyone, and welcome back to X-Keepers: Reign of Light!**

 **Ok, I didn't intend on the break between the first two chapters being so large, but summer was busy and my schedule going forward will be just as much so. I'll still try and update this story when I can, but I can't guarantee how often it will be. I can definitely say the story won't be completed by the time KH3 comes out in January (There's a sentence I never thought I'd say!)**

 **Anyways, brief recap before we jump into things:**

 _ **"It's been a year since The X-Keepers' first adventure, and the worlds have been kept peaceful. The team have joined their masters in Disney Town for the Million Dreams Festival, where Cynical met a lovely flower girl named Kayla, and SoraAlam and HMK reflected on their positions has incarnations of both Sora and Xehanort, respectively. However, before the night can truly get underway, a gummi fleet begins invading the town, leading our heroes into action once again..."**_

 **Without further ado, let's get into Chapter 2. Enjoy!**

 **~X~**

 **Kingdom Hearts and all related media are owned by SquareEnix/Disney**

* * *

CHAPTER 2: Hunters

Chaos erupted from Disney Town's square almost immediately. Citizens were running for dear life as the gummi fleet slowly made its way closer down toward the town, where numerous Gigas robots started dropping into the streets. Their glowing red eyes scanned the area, with their programming dictating the havoc they had to enact.

Quickly, they activated their arm turrets. However, before they could even fire a single shot, a Keyblade sliced through the arm, before beheading the robot altogether. The Gigas fell backward, deactivated, as SoraAlam looked around the square, noticing more bots starting to set the town ablaze.

Fire sprouted from their flamethrower arms, as the Gigas stomped all around. A determined look flashed across SoraAlam's face, as he dashed for the Gigas. Thankfully, HMK swooped in, jumping overtop the Gigas and absorbing the fiery attack into his hands. The robot ceased it's attack, as HMK, holding the newly formed fireball in his hand, grinned devilishly at the Gigas, before blasting the bots away with the massive fireball.

SoraAlam approached his comrade, who let out a heavy sigh. "You ok?" He asked.

"I will be once these buckets of bolts are taken care of." HMK responded, readying his Keyblade for another bout.

Behind the two, another Gigas started approaching them, but was walking in a more limped fashion. The two lowered their stances as the bot eventually toppled over, with Skyward Wing sliding down the robot's back toward the duo.

"Showoff." HMK playfully jabbed.

"Comes with the skills." Sky said with a shrug, "but we can't keep fighting these things forever. We need a plan."

"Kind of late to be coming up with one right now." SoraAlam said, motioning to the havoc around them.

"Well, what are our options?" HMK asked.

Suddenly, behind the trio, a sheet of ice glided across the area, as Aqua slid along the frozen slope, blasting the AWOL machines around her with powerful magic, before acrobatically landing near the team.

"Mickey unlocked the castle gates. Get everyone you can inside, now!" Aqua called out, rushing back into battle without a single thought.

The trio, meanwhile, just stood dumbfounded. "Well, I guess that's one option." HMK admitted.

"C'mon, we gotta move!" SoraAlam stated, as he and the two boys took off toward the castle gates.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the square, Cynical tried everything to draw the Gigas' fire. With his Emerald Pride shield summoned, the heuristic one darted as fast he could across the cartoonish street as the Gigas' railgun fired at the lime-coloured target. Listening to the hail of fire bouncing off his weapon, Cynical dashed into the nearby pavilion, ducking behind the covered railing, as the robots continued to attack his position.

Ducked behind cover, Cynical assessed his options. "Well, this is a tight spot." He muttered.

"AHHH!" A shriek of fear echoed from across the square. Cynical, concerned by what was happening, looked around to see Kayla, the flower girl from early, running from two of the Gigas, before she lost her footing. Now on the ground, Kayla looked up at the now towering robot with a fearful twinch in her eyes.

Cynical, knowing he couldn't waste any time, immediately began to move in her direction, jumping from the pavilion, before a missile attack from a nearby Gigas caused the structure to explode, launching Cynical high in the air.

"Way too high! Way too high!" Cynical shouted, before he started to plummet back down to the ground. Adjusting his position, Cynical, a sense of determination flashing across his face, started to dive toward the Gigas, before swinging his Keyblade hard enough to hook onto one of the Gigas, bring it down to the ground. With the robotic face smashed in, Cynical wasted no time in slashing off the rest of its head, shutting down the Gigas.

Breathing heavy, Cynical didn't notice the second bot taking aim at him from behind. However, before the boy could attack, a lightning fast slash caused the Gigas to stumble, toppling backward, shut down. Cynical, surprised from where the attack came from, looked around, only to find no trace of the attacker. Though, out of the corner of his eye, he did notice a figure, a girl perhaps, dressed in red and white, sprinting far away from the scene into a nearby alley. Cynical, curious, was hesitant to follow her, but another voice caught his ear.

"Jared!" Cynical turned back to see Kayla collecting herself from the ground.

"Kayla!" Cynical returned to the flower girl with haste, helping her to her feet. "Are you alright?" He asked, "are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll be alright" she reassured him.

"Cynical!" Across the street, the heuristic one looked to see SoraAlam, alongside Sky and HMK, rushing across the square. "C'mon, we gotta head for the castle!" SoraAlam hollered out, as the trio moved forward.

"Right!" Cynical agreed, looking back to Kayla, "Follow me." Thus, quickly grabbing Kayla's hand, Cynical led the flower girl toward where his friends were heading.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, the mysterious girl in red and white, hiding behind some debris, watched as the group of Keyblade wielders escaped the destruction around them. She studied them curiously, wondering how they will get out of this situation.

* * *

Across town, Aqua and Lea herded their students through the castle gates, while trying to push back the attacking Gigas. With one throwing fire, the other throwing ice, the two masters blasted back the bots as much as they could. "We only need to hold them off a little longer." Aqua stated, turning to Lea, "How are you holding up?"

"Me? Never better." The redheaded pyro responded, blasting more fireballs toward the Gigas, "It's just like that Fruitball game a few years back."

Despite the terror around them, Aqua couldn't help but smile, "You and I remember that Fruitball game very differently." She responded, throwing another massive sheet of ice at another bot, freezing it in place and short circuiting it.

As the last of the Gigas fell, The X-Keepers emerged from the destruction, practically sprinting for the castle. "What took you guys so long?" Lea hollered as the team raced through the doors.

"You ever tried running through a warzone without a plan?" HMK retorted.

"I have, actually. It's practically my main maneuver." Lea joked back, blasting off one last Firaga spell before he and Aqua joined in their retreat, all while the castle gates slowly closed behind them.

* * *

To say that Disney Town was in shambles would be an understatement.

Debris scattered everywhere, structures on fire, and not a single living soul to be seen anywhere. Most of the Gigas had been disposed of, but the ones that were still standing began to shut down on their own, almost as if whatever was controlling them was shut off.

Then, from high above in the Gummi fleet, several figures began to float down to the surface. Reaching the square, the figures, soldiers dressed from head to toe in black armor, began scanning the area. Their numerous HUD's showed no signs of their targets anywhere.

One of them started lifting most of the debris out of the way themselves, carrying the weight of the destruction on their shoulders like it was nothing. They tossed it to the side with a loud THUD, as one of their partners wandered by to hear the racket.

"Jeez, Meadows, we just made a mess already today." She groaned, "Mind saving that strength for when we need it?"

The large soldier, Meadows, shrugged sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, Ellis." He apologized, as another of their comrades wandered through the area.

"Anything?" He asked through his thick Irish accent.

"Nothing on this end either." Ellis answered.

The soldier sighed, bring up his arm to display a holographic screen. "I figured." He responded, pushing several buttons on his screen, "Sanders reported similarly."

"Well, they couldn't have gone far." Ellis said, as the two walked and talked along the destroyed street, "I mean, where else are you supposed to hide that many Keyblade wielders?" The two stopped as they looked ahead at the mountain of debris, and more importantly, who was atop it.

The figure was also clad in black armor, but with a hood draped over their head. They were kneeling down, scraping the rubble into their gloved hand, until they picked up a small pin. It was in the shape of the king's insignia. Their eyes scanned the item, only their eyes were but two single blue pixels on a screen where their face would be. Their 8-bit expression never wavered, only calculating scenarios for the future. After studying the item, the figure placed it in one of his numerous pockets before standing to look over the carnage he and his team caused.

"Walker!" The cloaked figure turned slightly at the sound of his name. He caught sight of Ellis approaching, alongside the other soldier. "Still no results." The soldier reported, "None of us have been getting any readings from in town."

"Then I guess they're not in town, are they?" Walker joked, a small chuckle emitting from his raspy but youthful voice.

"So, what's the plan, then?" Ellis questioned, "If they're not in town, where else would they be?"

A pixelated eyebrow arched on Walker's LED face, as he smirked at Ellis before stepping forward. "You clearly never stormed a castle before have you?" he slyly asked.

"What does that have to do with…?" Before Ellis could finish her thought, she looked ahead toward where Walker had his eyesight: Disney Castle. She instantly knew what he was planning. "Oh no," she groaned.

"Oh yes!" Walker assured her, before turning to the other soldier, "Rolfe, tell Meadows to meet us a few blocks over. We're gonna need some heavy lifting."

The soldier, Rolfe, sent out the coordinates on his holoscreen before following Walker and Ellis deeper into town.

* * *

The massive doors to the audience chamber swung open, as dozens of Disney Town citizens flooded into the giant room. Everyone, including the young Keyblade wielding students, huddled together, as they all tried to gather their barings to what was happening.

The X-Keepers were the last to enter the room, alongside Aqua and Lea, while King Mickey stood in the doorway, facing his magical guards. "Seal the door." He commanded, "No one gets in or out unless I say." The magic brooms saluted to their King before heading back down the hallway, as the doors began to shut closed, a locking sound heard from all corners.

"Is everyone alright?" Aqua called out to her students, to which they all mostly groaned back weakly to.

"Well, at least you're all in one piece. Be lucky for that." Lea reminded them.

"Master Aqua, what was going on out there?" One of the students asked.

"I don't know. It caught us all by surprise." Aqua answered.

"So how do we plan to get out of here?" Another student asked.

"We...we don't know yet." Aqua admitted.

"So we're not getting out of here?" Another student replied, the group of young warriors starting to worry.

"No, that's not what's happening." Aqua assured them, but the panic had already settled in.

"This is gonna be it, is it?" One of the more eccentric students stated, "Just like last year with all the Heartless. They're gonna break through. We're gonna get put in cages again! OH GOD, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" A quick slap across the face brought the student back to her senses. "Thanks, I needed that." She responded calmly.

"We're not gonna die, Buns!" Lea reassured the student, before addressing the heard, "Look. We're gonna figure this out. The least you all can do right now is chill out and not make a fuss. Got it memorized?" The students fell silent, not sure how to respond. Lea smiled, taking that as a response. "Good." He said, "That settles that."

"Look at you, being more stern." Aqua silently joked, "I'm impressed."

"Don't push it." Lea groaned, before moving away from the crowd.

Behind the two masters, The X-Keepers were also trying to get themselves sorted. They were all clearly exhausted from the constant running and fighting, all while trying to tend to any damage they might have sustained.

Amongst them, Cynical was trying to compose himself, before he looked down to notice something: he was still holding Kayla's hand. The young flower girl also noticing this, the two let go of each other's grips instantly, bashfully looking the other way. "Hehe, sorry about that." Cynical said, trying his best to hide his bright red face. Kayla couldn't help but laugh, even if she too didn't know how else to respond.

Sky, meanwhile, approached Mickey, who was trying to use his D-Link with minimal success. "Mickey, have you heard from Oswald?" Sky asked.

The mouse king looked back at his friend, worried. "That's what I'm trying to do. He's not answering his D-Link." Mickey stated, putting away the device in frustration, "Those Gigas were part of his gummi fleet. The same one that's attacking us right now."

SoraAlam, overhearing this, approached the two. "You think someone commandeered the fleet?" He asked.

"That's the only explanation I can think of." Mickey replied. "Gosh, I hope he's ok."

"He will be." Sky declared, "We're gonna make sure of it." Sky then turned and headed for the doors, with SoraAlam standing there, puzzled.

"You're honestly thinking of going back out there?" The stormless one questioned. HMK, who was helping Umbrella Dispatch tend to each other's wounds, overheard the conversation and approached the two, alongside Cynical.

"You do realize there's death and destruction out there, right?" HMK remarked.

"Well there's going to be a ton more if we don't get out there and figure out what's going on." Sky answered, "besides, with us on the job, what's going to go wrong?"

The team looked at each other, uneasy. Sky had a point; that they needed to do what they could to stop this from getting out of hand. But on the other hand, he did just say the ultimate sentence of ironic doom, so the odds might not be in their favor this time. After all, in a situation like this, there was plenty that could go wrong…

* * *

Oswald tried to raise himself up from the ground, but was just simply too tired and weak to move. As he laid on the floor, a figure passed by the cell surrounding the unlucky rabbit, their expression changing with every glance at their prisoner. Their eyes shifted back in front as they moved further down the hallway, until they reached the doors to main deck.

As the doors glided open, the figure approached the main controls, where one of his comrades, a young perky girl, fiddled with the different switches.

"Everything looks good from up here." She happily said, "No disturbances from the prisoner, and we even managed to keep the ice cream shop in tact."

"Yeah, cause that's what's important right now." The figure said in a somber tone, approaching from behind.

"Y'know, Sanders, with a tone like that, you could use some ice cream." His comrade responded.

"Chambers, do we have an opening or not?" Walker spoke from the other side of the coms.

Clearing her throat and back on task, Chambers swiped at the commands, seeing a holographic map of Disney Town. Swiping to Disney Castle, she pressed a few LED buttons to zoom in on the area, until she found what she was looking for. "You're right on top of a sweet spot." She said, "Drill a whole or something, and you're in, no sweat!"

* * *

"Excellent." Walker said, turning back to his crew, who were positioned outside the castle walls. "Meadows, you're up." He said to his tall comrade.

"Sweet." Meadows grinned, cracking his knuckles before stepping toward the wall. Winding up, Meadows, threw his fist through the wall with a sudden SMASH! Bricks flew everywhere, as there was only a gaping hole left in the castle wall, while the team looked unfazed; like this was something they watched a million times.

"We really didn't want to go the subtle way, did we?" Ellis pointed out, to which Walker waved off.

"They already know we're here." He said, as everyone started to funnel through the hole, "Now we just have to go and meet them all…"

* * *

A smaller portion of the massive audience chamber doors opened up, as Sky peaked out to look around. "All clear." He whispered, as he and others slowly made their way into the hallway. While the four heroes stood on guard, Sky moved closer to the guardrail, looking out at the open courtyard. Or rather, above it, up to look at the fleet above.

He pointed at the massive ship towering over all the others. "That one." He said, "that's the main ship. That's most likely where they're keeping Oswald."

"As well as maybe controlling the fleet." HMK added.

"Exactly," Sky looked around, forming a plan. "I say we use our gliders to get up there. Try not to draw attention."

"Yes, nothing says drawing attention like four keyblade gliders randomly wandering about." Cynical sarcastically remarked, to which Sky shot the heuristic one an unimpressed look.

"We'll go one at a time." SoraAlam interjected, "wait to get over the castle walls, then the next person goes."

"Sounds good to me," Sky agreed, "I'll lead." Sky then summoned his Keyblade glider, jetting off the guardrail and speeding toward the castle walls, his friends watching him take off.

As Sky flew over the courtyard, he looked down to see the empty area, except for a small detail he noticed out of the corner of his eye: there was a large hole in the wall. Noticing the shape of the hole, and the small debris surrounding it, Sky could only make one assumption, and it wasn't a good one. "Oh no," he muttered, as he looked back toward the castle.

Meanwhile, back in the hallway, Cynical was next to summon his Keyblade. "I'll go next. Make sure Sky doesn't get himself hurt." He said, stepping onto the guardrail.

However, just as the heuristic one was about to take his leap of faith, a sudden blast of energy hit the guardrail, blasting SoraAlam and HMK back, and Cynical off the guardrail. Thankfully, the young boy managed to summon his glider in time to blast off, even if he was now hanging off of the side of the glider's wing.

Getting to their feet, SoraAlam and HMK looked to see the group of mercenaries in black, with Walker aiming his smoking blaster at the two, with a pixelated grin on his face. "The X-Keepers," he cooed, shifting his blaster into a large machete-shaped dagger, "my lucky day." SoraAlam and HMK, wasting no time, summoned their keyblades, preparing for the fight at hand.

Up in the air, Sky watched the encounter take place, all while noticing Cynical speeding toward him, still dangling from his glider. "Don't just float there, Sky! Keep going!" Cynical called out, pulling himself back onto the glider's seat and blasting past his friend. Sky, though worried for the other two down below, knew they had a job to do, following closely behind Cynical.

Looking up to see the two gliders over the wall, Walker spoke into his earpiece. "Chambers, you and Sanders are going to have company. Take care of it." He commanded, before beginning to motioning to his other comrades.

However, Meadows starts to grin. "I got this!" He proclaimed, as he boosted off with his jet boots toward the two, much to Walker's shock and surprise.

"No, wait! Meadows, we need you-" Walker tried to call after him, but the childish brute had alright blasted off toward the other two boys. "...here." Walker finished, looking over to see SoraAlam and HMK, still in their battle stances, though looking extremely confused. Walker aggressively sighed, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Well...this is awkward." He said, before shifting his dagger back into its pistol form and blasting at the two Keyblade wielders.

The duo managed to dodge the blasts in time, though, as they darted toward the attackers, ready to engage. Rolfe and Ellis, seeing them incoming, readying their respective weapons. Ellis' electric batons swing at SoraAlam, though the young master is able to dodge just in time, leaping over the assailant while blocking another attack mid-air. All the while, Rolfe's blaster shoots out zaps of lightning at HMK, who zips around, looking for an opening to attack.

While this happens, Walker keeps blasting at the duo, while moving the fight toward the chamber doors. "I have to do everything around here." he grumbles under his breath, switching his blaster back to his dagger. The blade glows a faint bright light, as he jams the weapon between the two doors.

* * *

With the large battleship now looming above them, Sky and Cynical pulled off on their thrusters, sitting just underneath the ship. Sky, flipping his glider around so he could stand on it, rubbed his hands together quickly.

"Alright, cover my six," Sky said, "I'll get us in, no problem." Pulling his hands apart, two small flames were now lit in his palms, which he then curved into the gummi material, torching a way through.

Looking behind the nomad, Cynical noticed a large figure blasting toward them, and not stopping. "Sky, your six! Your six!" Cynical cried out, but it was too late. Just as Sky turned around, both he and Cynical were smashed into the ship, bursting into the ship's hull and finding themselves within a small hallway. Trying to catch himself, Sky stood back up just in time to see a battle axe being swung his way. Dodging the attack, Sky helped Cynical to his feet as Meadows grinned at the two Keyblade wielders.

"We're gonna have some fun." Meadows exclaimed before charging at the two.

* * *

Watching the heat begin to melt the doorknobs, Walker continued to plunge his dagger between the chamber doors. "Come on, come on, almost there." Walker pleaded, waiting for the heating to complete.

However, a sudden kick away from the door causes his blade to slip out from the cracks. Sliding to his knees, Walker's pixelated face looked up at his attacker, seeing SoraAlam dropping back into his battle stance.

"Not today." SoraAlam proclaimed, to which Walker scoffed at.

"Cute." He said, "But you're really not making this easy for me, kid." Picking his blade back up from the ground, Walker started swinging wild at SoraAlam, the Keyblade master managing to block the attacks.

HMK, meanwhile, managed to hold his own against both Rolfe and Ellis, though the two managed to keep the young fighter at bay. But being the fighter he was, HMK welcomed the challenge to two assassins presented him. Remembering a technique Lea taught him, he channeled his fiery energy into his Keyblade, and before long, the weapon shifted between his hands, with two clawed gauntlets ready on his fists. A newfound rage burning inside him, HMK smiled devilishly at his opponents, with flames emitting behind his sunglasses. Rolfe and Ellis couldn't help but pause.

"How...animalistic." Rolfe surveyed.

"You've seen nothing yet." HMK replied, before leaping at the two with ferocity.

Behind the ensuing battle, SoraAlam kept up his duel with Walker as the two kept trading swipes at each other, before locking blades again. It was then Walker noticed something in SoraAlam's eyes. Something...odd.

"Y'know, you seem familiar." Walker toyed, "Have I threatened you before?"

SoraAlam brushed off the comment, pushing Walker away. "We can't let you do this. There's innocent people in there!"

"Oh, I beg to differ, kiddo." Walker replied, shifting his blade into pistol mode and blasting at the young boy, SoraAlam still managing to reflect the blasts away.

* * *

High above in the gummi fleet, Sky and Cynical were still trying to hold their own against Meadows, who was smashing up the hallway greatly.

Within the command deck, both Sanders and Chambers were watching the brawl take place, becoming increasingly worried. "Oh, come on, big guy! You're making a mess of the place." Chambers whined in her seat, while Sanders took an astute look at the situation.

"If he keep mucking about, he's going to bring this whole ship down." He assessed, before suddenly switching to a more proud demeanour, complete with a Victorian Era accent. "In times like these, you know what needs to be done, yes?"

Chambers looked at her comrade, concerned. But she knew too that they had to take the risk. Thus, Chambers, punched into the computer all the commands needed.

"Walker's going to be really mad about this…" She muttered, before inputting the final key…

* * *

Within the scout ship beside the fleet, a small pod stood in the cargo bay, untouched, before a small purplish blue light emitted from the chamber. The pod door opened, smoke spewing from it's sides, as a figure slowly began to emerge for it's slumber, with a mission…

* * *

SLAM! Meadows managed to jam his axe so hard into the side of the hallway pillar, it got stuck in its place. Having ducked under the attack, Cyncial watched the brute try to comically pull his weapon out to no avail.

"Come on, you stupid piece of junk." Meadows tiredly barked at his weapon, as Cynical took this opportunity to use an Aeroga spell to push Meadows away, into one of the open cells.

"Now, Sky!" Cynical called out, as Sky stood on standby to key up the cell's electric bars. Meadows, coming to, tried to approach the bars, but was knocked back from the electric current, falling unconscious.

"Enjoy your time out." Sky teased, before moving over back to the other cell, were Oswald still laid. Releasing the electric bars, Sky crouched down to left the lucky rabbit up.

"Uh...kid?" Oswald groaned.

"Don't worry, Oswald. We're getting you out of here." Sky assured him, exiting the cell.

* * *

Down below, the battalions were starting to tire. Ellis and Rolfe were constantly trying to avoid HMK's rage, and SoraAlam and Walker were getting worn out from who would attack first. Walker, thinking it was time to end this quick, reassembled his blaster, aiming at the young master. But before he could send out a single shot, a beeping went off on his wrist monitor. Looking at the alert, his dotted eyes widened in fear.

" _Project: Stormbringer Activated"_

"No, no no no no no, not yet! He's not ready!" The assassin mumbled, starting to freak out.

SoraAlam, confused by the man's rambling, decided to take this opportunity to strike. Caught off guard, Walker found himself on bad footing, trying hold back SoraAlam blade. Knowing he was in a tough spot, the cyborg made his call.

"Hunters! We're retreating! Back to the ship!" He called out, to which Ellis and Rolfe gladly obliged to, blasting away from the hallway.

Pushing back his opponent, Walker holstered his blaster, casually saluting to SoraAlam. "I'll be seeing you around, kid." He stated, before blasting away after his team.

SoraAlam chased after him, but stopped at the guardrail, watching the assassins take off, and contemplating who exactly those guys were.

* * *

Making their way to the cargo hold, Sky let Oswald down to the ground, as the rabbit professed that he could still walk. "Hit that knob over there! That'll open the back!" Oswald called out, to which Sky did as he was commanded. Switching the knob, the trio heard the back of the ship start to open up, and the wind outside blowing in.

"Alright, let's get going!" Sky commanded, to which both Oswald and Cynical nodded to.

However, as the trio moved down the ramp, a new figure suddenly landed at the end of the ramp. Rising to their feet, they ominously looked toward the trio, as a purplish glow emitted from it's goggles. Black and blue scarfs and rags covered their arms and legs, while also hiding its face alongside a dark purple hood.

The presence of this new mystery figure put everyone on edge.

"Great, now whose this?" Oswald groaned, summoning his Keyblade. Both Sky and Cynical also summoned their weapons, but the figure didn't flinch. Instead, the trio only watched as a flicker of energy started to sprout from the figure's hands.

"Let's not wait around to figure out!" Sky quipped, as he quickly threw out his keyblade, letting of a blast of Thundaga at their new opponent. However, the figure merely raised their hand, and absorbed the blast into their palm. Sky let off the attack as he noticed this, while the figure just held the ball of lightning in his hand, not once letting it's stare toward the trio break.

"Um...Sky? Should we be afraid?" Cynical asked worriedly.

Suddenly, before Sky could answer, the figure phased out of sight, catching the boys by surprise. The trio looked all around, until the heard the figure rephase again, appearing behind the group. And with their new targets aligned, the figure charged up the still buzzing ball of lightning in its hands, and blasted the Thundaga attack back at the trio, a huge gust of energy pushing them all out of the bay to fall to the ground below.

After the screams of panic subsided, Sky, catching his senses again, caught the plummeting Cynical, who had grabbed ahold of Oswald mid fall, as Sky managed to summon his Keyblade glider, halting their decent. Everyone sighed in relief, thinking they were in the clear.

"Yes, Cynical. Very afraid." Sky managed to respond, before looking up fearfully at the still open door to the massive fleet.

* * *

High above in the bay door, the figure watched as Sky started to fly back toward Disney Castle with his comrades in tow. The figure took time to watch them, curiously. For he did not know what to make these Keyblade wielders. The only emotions he could feel in his fractured heart were a deep seething rage. For what, however, he didn't know.

Feeling the electricity of the Thundaga attack on hands, the figure shook his hands clean of the energy, before turning away from the scene. It was time to report back to the master.

* * *

 **Yeah, unlike the last story, I'm not waiting around long to introduce our villains this time.**

 **You'll have to wait until next time to REALLY get to know this mysterious team and what their goal is, but I want people to get a feel for their personalities right out of the gate, and establish some more character arcs and plot points going forward (especially for that last guy at the end there. He's gonna be kinda important lol).**

 **Also, you can probably gather who all populates Aqua and Lea's other students (at least one of them I directly gave away) but I'll leave it at that ;)**

 **With that said, that brings us to the end of today's chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it and what you think is gonna happen next. Until next time, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **~SSP~**

 **P.S. Props to anyone who can spot the reference to The Avengers and Pirates of the Caribbean!**


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